


We are like an earthquake

by Criscpi



Category: WTFock | Skam (Belgium)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:20:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27959816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Criscpi/pseuds/Criscpi
Relationships: Sander Driesen/Robbe IJzermans
Comments: 19
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

"Look, stop being so rude. I'm not your brother and I'm not your friend either"  
"I do not understand. It is you who irritate me with your fake kindness".  
"Of course you don't understand. I work here.  
Even though I would like to send you to hell every time I see you, being back here requires me to be nice even to those who don't deserve it. I have to pay for the university myself".  
"Are you saying I'm a daddy's boy?"  
"You are impossible. I am saying that doing this job well is important to me and you make it very difficult. Now, before I finish my shift and finally go home to rest and study, will you tell me what you want?"  
Suddenly a shock. Books falling, people running away terrified.  
Sander freezes. He will never be able to get used to this undulating land.

Then two hands grab him and throw him into a closet...  
"Nothing can fall on us here."  
When sander recovers from fear he looks around:  
"What is this place?"  
"It was a place full of things  
useless accumulated over time. I have emptied it and put in that  
armchair and a small table to study quietly when I can't go home".  
"Do you sleep here too?"  
"No, at most I stopped a few hours more than the closing."

"It is small"  
"Small, quiet and safe at the moment"  
Robbe takes the phone and sends several messages.  
"Do you want to warn someone? Do you have a girlfriend, do you want to tell her that you're okay?"  
"No. Why?"  
"Why what?"  
"Why are you still so kind to me?"  
Robbe raises his eyes to the sky

"My God! because I do not want a dead man on my conscience and because your loved ones deserve to be warned. We will stay here for a long time, since the entrance to the library is blocked and the rest of the rooms are probably partially unusable...

"So you lost your job..."

"No I don't think so, a few weeks of restoration and we'll go back to selling books."

"Are you always so damn positive?"

"But what do you want me to do? Push myself? I'll roll up my sleeves and try to get my job back.  
Instead tell me, what's your problem ?"

"It's none of your business."

"No it isn't, but there must be a valid reason to be so..."

"Like what?"

"Like an asshole"

Sander remains silent for a while, maybe half an hour, avoiding Robbe's investigator look.  
Then he is decide. Now or never.  
He sits next to him

"Do you want to know why I am like this?  
Ok I'll tell you:  
I am not a lost child. I have a nice family, adorable friends, I always have someone to have fun with... but... I have a secret like everyone else".

He stops.  
He waits for Robbe to say something but it does not happen  
Damn, even this one goes in his favor:  
he respect the times.  
He doesn’t be anxious to know.  
He asks and waits.

They remain silent for hours, each one looking for comfort in the dim light of their  
own cell phone.  
They fall asleep head to head, exhausted.  
They really look like lost children...  
Finally the day arrives and with the light also the rescue squad.  
They hear the firemen working behind their door.

Robbe approaches  
"Sander, here's my number in case you need some rare books."

His smile. Blinding.

"And you keep mine, perhaps you would like to learn to be more... let's say direct instead of asshole?"

"Okay..."

When the door opens there are still several bookshelves that hinder the exit but there is space to get out.

When Sander is about to leave, he stops for a second:

"Do you want to know the end of the story?"  
"I would like to..."  
Sander talks to the firemen then comes back: he looks Robbe straight in the eyes then says to him:

"My secret is that I'm in love with you."

And turning his back, he goes out and leaves.


	2. The talk

For the rest of the day, Robbe is overwhelmed: no one cares more than he does given what has just happened.  
Robbe instead is thinking about Sander and what he told him:   
How could he be in love with him? It was a joke. It couldn't be otherwise.

But while he was thinking and thinking about Sander, the scared of Sander, the shy Sander who is struggling to open up...he realized that after all he was not just an egocentric in search of attention.   
He had to see him and talk to him again.

A couple of days later Robbe finds himself in the bookstore: the store is still closed but as he suspected he needed to rearrange the thousands of books that had fallen and check their condition.  
Robbe gets an idea:  
"I know someone who would be happy to help: can I ask if he is available?"  
"It would be of great help, thank you"

Robbe picks up the phone and dials a number:  
"Sander? I'm Robbe... we need a hand with the fallen books would you like to give us a hand?"

Sander accepts. Ten minutes and he would have arrived.  
When Sander enters, Robbe is nervous. He knows that this was just a pretext for talking.  
He looks at him and suddenly finds him beautiful: if he hadn't shown up the way he did, maybe he would have lost his head over Sander.  
"What should I do?"  
"Come with me, let's go upstairs, where there is the longest work... the dust has covered everything and we have to clean and tidy up.  
The boys start working in silence; then they talk but only giving each other directions on how and where to put the books.  
Robbe is on the ladder and is putting some books on a shelf, when one foot loses its support from the ladder and he start falling.  
Sander understands the situation and runs so that he doesn't hit his head and finds himself on the ground with Robbe on top of him:   
"Thank you. Did you hurt yourself?"  
"I only have my foot stuck in the ladder but nothing broken".  
"We have to take it off before it breaks."  
Robbe does to get up but Sander blocks him and, as if he were about to touch a fragile object, he approaches Robbe and embraces him.  
Robbe did not think that being embraced by Sander was so good for his soul: so he too surrounds him with his arms.  
"Why did you do it?"  
"I didn't want a dead man on my conscience"  
"Sander, please, I’m serious”  
"I did not think Robbe. I acted because I saw you in danger".  
"Why have you always treated me badly?  
"Because I wanted to receive your attention"  
"You almost made me hate you."  
"Did it happen?"  
Robbe holds him tighter  
"No."


	3. Not now

They had worked closely together for an entire week.  
Tomorrow would be the last day, then the bookstore would reopen to the public.  
They hadn't had any more moments like the first day, but they had learned so much about each other, each talking about their past and what they wanted to do in the future.

Sander was more relaxed but thoughtful, and Robbe had begun to look at him with new eyes.  
He missed his embrace more than he cared to admit.

It was now late afternoon. Downstairs someone was finishing up the last of the counter cleaning.  
"And that's the last of it."  
"I can't believe we're done."  
"Yeah."  
"Robbe what is it?"

Robbe turns around and walks over to him and hugs him.  
It was like drinking again after days in the desert. 

"Thanks for helping me."  
Sander says nothing but strokes Robbe's back as if to comfort him  
"I enjoyed working with you, we're a good team after all."  
Robbe pulls his mouth closer to Sander's ear:  
"I'm going to miss this."

Sander pulls away to look at Robbe: their eyes are glazed over but Sander more so.  
With his thumb he strokes the mouth of the person he most wants next to him.

"I can't."  
"What?"  
"Robbe..."  
"Tell me..."

"My parents told me yesterday that because of work they have to change city and I'm forced to go with them..."

"No. Not now."  
"I'd like to find a solution but I don't have any ideas. I'm sorry."

"But.... when?"  
"Ten days from today..."

There is a moment suspended.  
Time stands still.  
Robbe has to think. Quickly

"Do you want to go?"  
"Of course not. But I don't have anywhere to stay."

Robbe thinks.  
There has to be a solution.

Sander is leaning against the railing with his hands over his face.  
"Come."  
"Where?"  
"Out of here."

As they walk the evening has now arrived.  
"Robbe what are you going to do?"  
"Truth?"  
"Yes."  
"I don't know but I'm hoping the fresh air will help me find a solution."

Then suddenly Robbe's phone rings.  
"Milan? Yes everything is fine, next Monday we will reopen...are you there for dinner? Milan... maybe a friend is staying with us for a few days, is that a problem? I'll explain later... okay, see you then."

"Come to my place"  
"What for?"  
"Stay with me. A few days. More heads will find a solution."

Silence. Sander breaks it:  
"Why all this?"  
"I don't know. To pay you back for the work you've done? Now go to your house and just say you're spending a few days with some friends then we'll figure something out...I'll talk to Milan and Zoe in the meantime and get help..."  
Sander grabs him by the shoulders:  
"Robbe, calm down, relax...you're hyperventilating..."

"Sorry. Okay, it's six o'clock... Can you be at my place by eight?"

"Okay..."  
"See you later."


	4. To hell with labels

"And that's it.Can we help him?"  
Milan rests a hand on Robbe's:   
"Sure. We'll start the search tomorrow. But...”  
"No. Milan not now. I have other things on my mind now. Then we'll talk about it ok?"  
"Ok...ok...I'm just saying that all this pain for a person who till yesterday you wanted to beat up seems strange to me..."  
"Milan..."   
"Roger, we'll talk about it in due time."

The doorbell rings and Robbe goes to open it.

"Hello, welcome"  
"Hi"

Robbe invites him in, shows him the apartment and introduces him to Milan and Zoe:  
"We're ready to help you out, in the meantime you can stay as long as you want, Robbe's friends are our friends.  
Tomorrow morning we will put all the possibilities on the table... now guys, no more worries, it's Friday night and Zoe and I have a double date!!!"  
Zoe rolls her eyes  
"Come on Milan, Robbe will explain your insanity once we get out of here.  
Sander, welcome, you'll see, everything will be fine! See you tomorrow!"

When they are left alone the tension is quite evident.  
Robbe thinks maybe he's gone too far. Maybe.

"Do you want to go out, see a movie..."  
"A movie will be fine."

Halfway through the viewing, Robbe pauses to bring him and Sander something to drink. 

"Robbe...explain to me what this is all about."

Robbe looks at the liquid in the glass.  
"I don't know, we were becoming friends, the news that you were leaving town threw me off and I panicked."

"Friends?"  
"Aren't we?"  
"Robbe, don't get me wrong, but we've only been getting along for a week or so..."  
"Why did you come then?"

Sander gets up and walks over to the chair where Robbe is sitting.

"Because we're becoming friends..."  
He sits on Robbe and kisses him  
"Friends?"  
Robbe repeats

"Now tell me what kind of friends we are."

Robbe brings a hand up behind Sander's head: 

"To hell with labels Sander. I just know I don't want to lose you."

Sander walks back to Robbe's face, resting his forehead on his.   
"Say it again."  
"I don't want to lose you...now kiss me, that's all I've wanted for days."


	5. The future.

"I don't think I've ever kissed someone so much."  
"Do you want to stop?"  
"Are you kidding? I don't think so."  
"I thought you were much more shy"  
"Well I thought you were insufferable and look at you: you're in my bed and you've been kissing me for three hours"  
"The best three hours ever, Mr. Ijzerman.  
"I agree Mr. Driesen"

They were lying in bed, looking up at the ceiling as if looking up at a starry sky; their hands intertwined their smiles so bright.  
"I was thinking about the two of us and something occurred to me."  
"Tell me"  
"We're like an earthquake. Sudden and powerful. And it leaves its mark."  
Robbe looks at him tenderly.

"True. But our earthquake isn't destroying. Ours is creating."  
"What is creating?”  
"A story. A beautiful story."  
"Yes, you're right. And I hope it's one of those stories with a happy ending."  
"Me too Sander. Will you give me a hug?"  
"Come here."

The boys forget the door open so Zoe comes in to check on them and cover the two boys,who are asleep hugging each other, lips almost touching.

"They are so tender" Milan is on the verge of tears. He knows Robbe and knows how much he deserved this kind of happiness.  
Zoe rests her head on her friend's shoulder.  
"Robbe finally found his present."

Milan watches them sleep:  
"Zoe, our boy has found more than his present, believe me, Robbe has finally found his future."


	6. Our story

"Good morning..."  
"Good morning, did you sleep well?"  
"I don't want to sound exaggerated, but with you nearby even sleep is a unique experience."  
"Yes, you are exaggerated, but I like you for that too."

A kiss. Another and another, then together towards the kitchen for some coffee.  
They find Milan and Zoe intent on talking to each other.

"Are we interrupting?" asks Robbe.  
"No no come let's have breakfast together.  
Sander what do you usually have for breakfast?"

"I'll just have coffee thanks."

"Cheap."

"Milan shut up" answers Zoe

Zoe and Milan laugh.  
Robbe and Sander look at each other curiously. 

"May I know what's going on?"  
"All in due time Robbe, now if we please sit down we can have breakfast , meet your boyfriend and then start to study our plan of action are you agreed?"

Robbe turns red.  
"What is it..." whispers Sander to him smiling.  
"It's the first one that..."  
Sander moves closer and kisses him  
"What..."  
"Sander... ok I'll say it: it's the first time you've been called my boyfriend..."

"It's a good word Robbe"  
"Yes sander, it is."

"If you're done being lovey-dovey and rubbing the tips of your noses together, Zoe and I have something to tell you."

"Ok Milan tell us everything"  
"So: you guys are adorable you know that right?"

"Milan!!! Okay I'll say it: we have a solution.  
Simple and beneficial."

Zoe looks at Milan who is wiping his eyes.

"We're going to get a bigger bed, we're going to review the management of expenses and household chores..."

Sander stops her:

"Really you would do that? A stranger with you?"

"Yes. We'll get to know you if Robbe likes you...and he does, otherwise he wouldn't have moved mountains to keep you near him and you'd never have come in here...so you can't be all bad...what do you say?"

"I don't know what to say... Robbe..."  
"You two are wonderful...I don't deserve you."  
"Everyone hug me!"  
Milan shouts.

It's been 13 months.  
13 intense and wonderful months.  
That evening Sander drops by Robbe's after work at the bookstore:   
"Hey honey, I'm done, I'm coming!"

Sander watches him sort out the last things and say goodbye to the others: he thanks the earthquake for giving him the chance to be able to really get to know each other and fall in love.  
"So this surprise..."  
Robbe tells him after kissing him  
"Let's go through the house and then start the celebration..."  
"One year..."  
"one year and one month..."  
"We will never celebrate like others will we?"  
"No my love because we are special"

They arrive in the building, take the stairs, and as Robbe stops in front of their apartment door, Sander takes a few more steps and stops in front of another door that he is about to open: 

"Sander what are you doing?"  
Sander comes back, takes him by the hand and walks him to open the door together:  
"This is our home Robbe.... from today and if you want ...."  
Robbe walks in and sees Sander's hand in space management and and stylistic choice and finds everything perfect.  
"Sander can you explained me all of this?..."  
"It's been vacant for three months. I asked them to keep it quiet. They accepted my rental proposal and thanks to our parents I was able to make this happen.We owe them several dinners..."  
"Oh my god, everything is perfect...but..."  
"Milan and Zoe? They already knew, and they too have helped me mostly to keep the project a secret.   
They want us to have dinner with them tonight...do you mind? So we can get the last of our stuff..."

Robbe approaches.  
"I love you Sander. This is the most incredible thing you could have made to me."  
"You deserve this Robbe. I love you too and can't wait to start my life here with you"  
"I'm sure it will be wonderful; the best of all possible stories."  
"You know what? There won't be a happy ending because in our story the end is not contemplated."


End file.
